Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

8-2022

Abstract

China overhauled its pre-existing image of being insufficiently friendly to sustainable development in international investment agreements (IIAs) with its sweeping, specific, and strong commitments to labour rights protection in the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) recently concluded with the European Union. This article provides an assessment of these labour provisions and examines their impact on China’s national, regional, and global stances on labour protection. Firstly, it analyses the features and purposes of different types of labour provision and the integrated mechanism for settling disputes on labour issues. This article then identifies the gap between China’s commitments under the CAI and its actual practices and presents a wish list for China to enhance labour protection, including efforts to ratify fundamental International Labour Organization conventions, improve domestic legislation on core labour principles, and enhance corporate social responsibility among Chinese investors. Further, this article assesses the macro-level impacts of these labour provisions. It argues that the CAI presents an opportunity to strengthen sustainable development and labour rights protection within China, along the Belt and Road Initiative, and globally. China is advised to continue incorporating modernized labour standards into its future IIAs.

Discipline

International Law | Labor and Employment Law

Publication

Journal of International Economic Law

Volume

25

Issue

3

First Page

464

Last Page

483

ISSN

1369-3034

Identifier

10.1093/jiel/jgac027

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Comments

Cited by: 4

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1093/jiel/jgac027

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